Cyber-spying: Have Nokia, RIM and Apple given backdoor access to agencies for spying on US-China panel?

According to a statement released by Lords of Dharamraja, it had also stolen the source code of Symantec’s anti-virus system.

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NEW DELHI: According to a secret memo stolen and released on the web by a group of hackers, called Lords of Dharamraja, Indian military intelligence officials have been reportedly given backdoor access for digital surveillance by Nokia, Apple and Research In Motion (RIM), which makes Blackberry phones.

The memo revealed that "the backdoor" was allegedly used by Indian intelligence to spy on officials of United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC).

USCC officials on Monday told Reuters that the organization has "contacted relevant authorities to investigate the matter". The news agency reported the USCC did not dispute the authenticity of intercepted mails that were cited in the leaked memo. Officials in India could not be reached for comment.

According to the memo, which was prepared on October 6 last year, the backdoor was reportedly opened by Nokia, Apple and RIM in exchange of doing business in Indian market. "Since MI (military intelligence) has no access to USCC LAN (local area network) limited to VPN, POP servers (communication gateways) etc, and they are primary target concerning PRC (People's Republic of China), decision was made earlier this year to sign an agreement with mobile manufacturers in exchange for Indian market presence," the memo read.

Alan Hely, senior director of corporate communications at Apple, told TOI that the company would not like to comment on the leaked memo. "But I can deny that backdoor access was provided," he said. A Nokia spokesperson too refused to comment on the specifics of the matter but said, "The company takes the privacy of customers and their data seriously and is committed to comply with all applicable data protection and privacy laws."

RIM refused to comment on this specific case. However, the Canadian company that makes BlackBerry phones, says in its guidelines "it has no ability to provide its customers' encryption keys" to anyone and that it "maintains a consistent global standard for lawful access requirements that does not include special deals for specific countries".

Hackers stole anti-virus company's source code

The leaked memo also talked about India's cyber defence plan that was "drawn up in July 2011". It said the Indian government was working with mobile manufacturers, "including Micromax", and anti-virus software makers like Symantec to bolster information gathering in the virtual world.

While electronic surveillance and wiretapping is often a necessity to check crime and for national security purposes, the law usually only allows for it on a case-to-case basis. It is not clear at the moment if the alleged backdoor access provided by Nokia, RIM and Apple was used for en masse surveillance in India. As more and more people connect to the digital world, governments across the world are looking to tap into the networks, often with the help of private companies, for information gathering and spying.

According to a statement released by Lords of Dharamraja, it had also stolen the source code of Symantec's anti-virus system. The company later acknowledged the breach but did not clarify if the source code of their software was stolen or not.

"As of now, we start sharing with all our brothers and followers information from the Indian Militaty Intelligence servers, so far, we have discovered within the Indian Spy Programme source codes of a dozen software companies which have signed agreements with Indian TANCS programme and CBI," the group said in a statement posted on a website called Pastebin.

TOI tried to reach YamaTough, allegedly a member of Lords of Dharamraja who describes himself on Twitter as 'anonymous avengers of Indian independence frontier', but he did not reply. In the past, Pastebin has been used by LulzSec and Anonymous, two groups of hackers that were in the news last year for several high-profile break-ins across the world, to release statements.